1968 Suzuki T500 Cobra

eric they are not pure aluminum they are some alloy

i baked them at 550 for 1.5 hrs the last time i tried it and they still came out like you had sand under

the powdercoat

the big right side cover came out ok but the 2 small left side ones were almost as bad as the first time

so they have been baked 3 times 400 for 1hr no go 450 1.5 hrs no go then the last time 550 i hr

i think its the alloy

the powder is bonded ok just keeps pitting the finish on the full cure of 400 degrees for 20 mins part temp

i have never had this with aluminum
 
Not sure were talking about the same thing. My understanding is at this point he's trying to get all the oil out of the pores of the alloy. 550°F to 600°F is what temp you have to reach to burn off carbonaceous material. As far as powder coat, I won't reply as i have too little experience.
 
the powder coat is going on perfectly and in the flow out (250-300) looks perfect

it is in the full cure that it get these sand grain looking patches coming from under neath

i was leary of heating them up more i will talk to matt about it today and see if he wants me to try it again before i ship him the motor back

as my over can go to the 600
 
Sonreir™ said:
I don't really feel like polishing aluminum every few weeks for the rest of my ownership period.

if you take it to a mirror finish i have found a good polish once a year is all it takes to maintain it looking good.
 
Indeed. And it doesn't take removing the part and getting friendly with the buffing wheel(s) again, just some hand polish (blue magic, simichrome, wenol, etc) a cloth and a little time and elbow grease. Unlike pretty much EVERY other treatment (anodizing, chrome, paint, powder, etc), this actually lasts indefinitely as long as you actually maintain the surface. Actually pretty easy, and for me in the same range as cleaning - polishing - waxing your tank and side covers.
 
Painting is probably going to be the only solution; I found that Tremclad Hammertone Silver gave a pretty good approximation of the silver paint used back then. Used it on my Kaw G3TR and Hodaka restos (Super Rat, Ace 100) and looked pretty much like the factory colour on both makes.
Those side covers have a huge amount of "reclaim" (ie., scrap metal) in them - like most if not all '60's Jap side covers (they were probably still melting down WWII scrap metal LOL) and you will probably always have the problem.
I stripped the factory paint and polished up the side covers of my '67 Yamaha 350 and ya, they polish up pretty good but... they have light and dark shades going through them - pretty disconcerting to a 17-year-old, who was expecting beautiful gleaming alloy like I saw in the bike magazines.
Great resto - you have (a lot more) more patience than I.
Pat
 
Before and (almost) after of the front fender repair.

Dent removal, welding, and most of the sanding is complete. Still need to buff it and them off to plating. We were originally going to go with chrome plating, but it turned out to be cost prohibitive. We're now going to be doing bright nickel instead. I'm told it requires a little more maintenance in order to keep it looking good, but it's hard to distinguish from chrome as long as you don't let it get too dirty.
 

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There is a place in Quebec here that used to build motorcycles they did a lot of nickel plated parts I always thought they looked like they had a slight yellowish tinge to them.

It still looks sharp it's just something to keep in mind


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Typically, automotive chrome is a nickel-chrome. It's nickel plated first, then flash chromed for the brightness and resistance to oxidation. Most nickel is nickel-phosphorous. That's where the yellowishness is coming from. If the whole bike's chrome is nickel plated, then I think you won't notice as much. If it's a mixture of parts, then I think the nickel parts will be pretty obvious.
 
Also, it should be noted that in order to nickel plate you have to remove the chrome plating. There will be be poor adhesion otherwise.
 
We're replating everything, so hopefully it's not too noticeable. Maybe it'll be a feature or conversation piece...
 
The hardware is back from plating. New zinc.
 

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Pretty darn cheap. I didn't have to clean the parts or anything. Handed them a box full of rusty, crudy, greasy hardware along with $75 and it came back like this a week later.
 
Sonreir™ said:
Pretty darn cheap. I didn't have to clean the parts or anything. Handed them a box full of rusty, crudy, greasy hardware along with $75 and it came back like this a week later.

Good to know, thanks.
 
Sonreir™ said:
Pretty darn cheap. I didn't have to clean the parts or anything. Handed them a box full of rusty, crudy, greasy hardware along with $75 and it came back like this a week later.

thats totally worth it, wonder if they will take some shipped in. I cant find a place in Indy that does small job plating for anything less than a first born.
 
JSJamboree said:
thats totally worth it, wonder if they will take some shipped in. I cant find a place in Indy that does small job plating for anything less than a first born.

Looks like they do.

http://www.tfcplating.com/
 
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